EPL Week 4: Manchester United Win Thrilling Clash Against Arsenal
August 30th 2009 00:10
They don't call it the Theater Of Dreams for nothing. Just four weeks into the season, the Premiership got its first Big Four clash as Manchester United came back from behind to defeat Arsenal 2-1 at Old Trafford.
From the opening moments, you could tell that the two teams were in very different state of minds at this early stage of the season. On the one hand, you had Arsenal brimming with confidence after their comfortable wins against Everton, Portsmouth, and Celtic in the Champions League. On the other, you had Manchester United, a team still learning how to cope without Cristiano Ronaldo while playing with a weakened defense and substitute goalkeeper. Arsenal's play was all crisp passing and great movement off the ball while United was virtually unrecognizable due to their uncharacteristic hurried passing and panicky clearances. As such, it wasn't surprising to see Arsenal go toe-to-toe with United even when the Red Devils tried to turn the game into a physical affair.
The Gunners finally managed to take the lead in the 39th minute when Andrei Arshavin, pissed off at the referee for the lack of a penalty call seconds earlier, ripped a hard and powerful shot that beat Foster at his near post. Arshavin had been the most dangerous player for Arsenal during that half, and his goal was sweet justice for Fletcher's uncalled foul inside the box. The visitors almost took a 2-0 lead right after the break, but this time Foster was vigilant, denying Van Persie from close-range.
United finally gave their fans something to cheer for when Wayne Ronney converted a penalty-kick in the 59th minute. Rooney had won the penalty when Almunia took him down as he received Ryan Giggs' excellent through-ball. Giggs made up for his poor match performance by “assisting” on United's second goal. Indeed, it was his free-kick that Diaby headed into his own net, giving the hosts a lead they didn't fully deserve.
The rest of the game was played in dramatic fashion as Arsenal looked for an equalizer while United magically regained their passing brilliance and tried to control the game's tempo. After Wenger put all of his cards on the table by sending Eduardo, Bendtner and Ramsey on the pitch, Ferguson came out with his ace in the hole by replacing Giggs with Berbatov, giving his squad someone to hold the ball further up field and thus out of reach of Arsenal's strikers. Berbatov's entrance brought an instant spark to United's game. As Arsenal concentrated their players in attack, it gave plenty of space for players like Rooney, Nani and Berbatov to exploit at the back. Twice (Berbatov and Nani) the Red Devils almost came close to scoring another goal in stoppage time by way of a counterattack.
In defense, Vidic, Evra, Brown, even Carrick and Fletcher were working their asses off to repel the Gunners' attacks. When it looked like Van Persie had given his team a last-minute equalizer in the 94th minute, his goal was immediately ruled off for offside. That decision didn't please Wenger too much and he was sent off for the final thirty seconds of the match.
In the end, it was a tight game. Arsenal probably deserved a better fate but United – as is often the case in big games (except for that awful performance against Barcelona in May) – simply didn't give up. And this is where experience comes in every time, something that Wenger doesn't seem to understand. While the Frenchman had players like Ramsey, Eduardo, Bendtner and Wilshere on the bench (all great players, just not mature enough), Sir Alex's calmness during games comes from the fact that if something doesn't work, he has veterans like Scholes and Owen plus talent like Berbatov and Anderson to find a solution. While Arsenal grew nervous from the moment United equalized, the Red Devils became even more confident.
One more thing I want to mention is Nani's performance. I always found him useless because he wasn't producing enough offensively to be that detached defensively but today, he had a good game. Quiet but efficient. He was there when Evra needed support and came close to giving United a 3-1 lead. Hopefully, he'll continue on this path to become a great winger.
Manchester United line-up: Ben Foster; John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia (Park Ji-Sung, 60th), Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Nani; Ryan Giggs (Dimitar Berbatov, 84th), Wayne Rooney.
Arsenal line-up: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Thomas Vermaelen, Gael Clichy; Denilson, Alexandre Song (Eduardo), Abou Diaby; Emmanuel Eboue (Nicklas Bendtner, 70th), Robin Van Persie, Andrei Arshavin (Aaron Ramsey, 80th).
From the opening moments, you could tell that the two teams were in very different state of minds at this early stage of the season. On the one hand, you had Arsenal brimming with confidence after their comfortable wins against Everton, Portsmouth, and Celtic in the Champions League. On the other, you had Manchester United, a team still learning how to cope without Cristiano Ronaldo while playing with a weakened defense and substitute goalkeeper. Arsenal's play was all crisp passing and great movement off the ball while United was virtually unrecognizable due to their uncharacteristic hurried passing and panicky clearances. As such, it wasn't surprising to see Arsenal go toe-to-toe with United even when the Red Devils tried to turn the game into a physical affair.
The Gunners finally managed to take the lead in the 39th minute when Andrei Arshavin, pissed off at the referee for the lack of a penalty call seconds earlier, ripped a hard and powerful shot that beat Foster at his near post. Arshavin had been the most dangerous player for Arsenal during that half, and his goal was sweet justice for Fletcher's uncalled foul inside the box. The visitors almost took a 2-0 lead right after the break, but this time Foster was vigilant, denying Van Persie from close-range.
United finally gave their fans something to cheer for when Wayne Ronney converted a penalty-kick in the 59th minute. Rooney had won the penalty when Almunia took him down as he received Ryan Giggs' excellent through-ball. Giggs made up for his poor match performance by “assisting” on United's second goal. Indeed, it was his free-kick that Diaby headed into his own net, giving the hosts a lead they didn't fully deserve.
The rest of the game was played in dramatic fashion as Arsenal looked for an equalizer while United magically regained their passing brilliance and tried to control the game's tempo. After Wenger put all of his cards on the table by sending Eduardo, Bendtner and Ramsey on the pitch, Ferguson came out with his ace in the hole by replacing Giggs with Berbatov, giving his squad someone to hold the ball further up field and thus out of reach of Arsenal's strikers. Berbatov's entrance brought an instant spark to United's game. As Arsenal concentrated their players in attack, it gave plenty of space for players like Rooney, Nani and Berbatov to exploit at the back. Twice (Berbatov and Nani) the Red Devils almost came close to scoring another goal in stoppage time by way of a counterattack.
In defense, Vidic, Evra, Brown, even Carrick and Fletcher were working their asses off to repel the Gunners' attacks. When it looked like Van Persie had given his team a last-minute equalizer in the 94th minute, his goal was immediately ruled off for offside. That decision didn't please Wenger too much and he was sent off for the final thirty seconds of the match.
In the end, it was a tight game. Arsenal probably deserved a better fate but United – as is often the case in big games (except for that awful performance against Barcelona in May) – simply didn't give up. And this is where experience comes in every time, something that Wenger doesn't seem to understand. While the Frenchman had players like Ramsey, Eduardo, Bendtner and Wilshere on the bench (all great players, just not mature enough), Sir Alex's calmness during games comes from the fact that if something doesn't work, he has veterans like Scholes and Owen plus talent like Berbatov and Anderson to find a solution. While Arsenal grew nervous from the moment United equalized, the Red Devils became even more confident.
One more thing I want to mention is Nani's performance. I always found him useless because he wasn't producing enough offensively to be that detached defensively but today, he had a good game. Quiet but efficient. He was there when Evra needed support and came close to giving United a 3-1 lead. Hopefully, he'll continue on this path to become a great winger.
Manchester United line-up: Ben Foster; John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia (Park Ji-Sung, 60th), Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Nani; Ryan Giggs (Dimitar Berbatov, 84th), Wayne Rooney.
Arsenal line-up: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, Thomas Vermaelen, Gael Clichy; Denilson, Alexandre Song (Eduardo), Abou Diaby; Emmanuel Eboue (Nicklas Bendtner, 70th), Robin Van Persie, Andrei Arshavin (Aaron Ramsey, 80th).
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